The present invention relates to the transport of a stiff-pasty material. The invention relates in particular to a sludge transport system wherein a positive-displacement sludge pump conveys the sludge through a pipeline, with the amount conveyed per unit of time and the total amount of material conveyed being determined automatically.
In recent years sludge pumps have become increasingly widespread for transporting sludges through a pipeline in municipal and industrial applications. Sludge pumps offer a number of crucial advantages over worm or belt conveyors. Pumping sludge through a pipeline means enclosing odors and thus a safe and secure work place. Sludge pumps are suitable for transporting thick, heavy sludges for which belt or worm conveyors are virtually useless. This is particularly important when the sludges are to be dried and burned in an incineration plant. The pipeline has little or no wear; it is much cheaper to maintain than worm or belt conveyors. The pump and pipeline take up less space and can convey the material through changes of direction by simple elbows. Sludge pumps furthermore offer a reduction of noise compared to mechanical conveyors and also work more cleanly and without soiling.
On the one hand, numerous federal laws and regulations control the processing and dumping of sludges and require that the processor precisely determine and record the amount of processed material.
On the other hand, since such pumps are increasingly used in complex plants, extreme availability is required. These plants include for example sludge incinerating plants, coal power plants and certain functional processes. The sludge pumps form a part of the plant which is frequently responsible for a complicated sludge flow and serves to supply the sludge, feed the sludge into the sludge pump and possibly to transport and dose the sludge at a certain place in the plant. In such and similar cases of application one generally wants to be able to plan and carry out the maintenance and servicing of the crucial units of these parts of the plant in advance so as to prevent unexpected breakdowns. These requirements are of special importance when standby pump systems cannot be used e.g. due to excessive costs so that symptoms of imminent wear must be recognized in time.